Bye-bye analog, hello digital

The transition won't be totally seamless, but not bad, so says Wisconsin Broadcasters Association President Michelle Vetterkind.

"I think there'll be some bumps. I mean I think no matter what you do or when you do it — if it's tomorrow or six months from now or a year or two from now — there will be some bumps. There's always going to be at least a small percentage of the public who will not be ready and they'll see a dark TV or a snowy TV and at that point will take action."

However, despite the talk of people not being digital-ready, Vetterkind says relatively speaking, it's a small number. Again, there's no need to throw out your current analog TV in favor of a high-priced digital set.

"If you have cable or satellite with the local television package you should be absolutely fine. … a converter box that's what I believe the majority are probably doing at this point instead of going out and buying a new television set."

Vetterkind says some people do have converter boxes, but have not yet set them up. She says when the picture disappears, they'll figure it out. Meanwhile, even though President Obama signed a measure to delay the transition to digital to June, many TV stations are going ahead with the switch-over as originally planned.

"This is quite the historical event. It really is bigger than even going to color from black-and-white. So it is an exciting time."

The first color TVs were made available to consumers 55 years ago. Even then, Vetterkind says, if people did nothing they'd still be able to watch TV on their old black and white sets. Now, it's do or die.